Button-feeding mechanism for bar-button-attaching machines.



F. R. WHITE.

BUTTON PEEDING MEGHANISM POR BAR BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED A1=R.25, 1910.

1,079,967. l Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

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/NVENTUH MM @Mit Br ma U94 ATTHIVEV P. R. WHITE. BUTTON PBEMNG MBGHANISNPoR BAR BUTTON ATTAGHING MACHINES.

4 APPLICATION FILED AFR. 25, 1910. 1,079,967o Patented Dec.2,1913.

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ATTORNEY F. WHITE. BUTTON PBBDING MBGHANISM FOR BAR BUTTON'ATTAGHINGMACHINES. APPLICATION FILED APR.25, 1910.

1,0'79,967. Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

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N ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EEA'NKLIN E.' or WATERBRY, CONNECTICUT, AssIeNON. To lPATENT BUTTONCOMPANY, OE WATENBUBY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OE CONNECTICUT.

' BUTTON-FEEDING HECHANISM FOB BAR-BUTTON-ATTACHING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2, 1913.-

Application mea Apm 25, 1910. serial No. 557,379.

To all w71 om t 'may concern:

Be it knowny that I, FRANKLIN R. WHITE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Waterbury,- in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have made and .invented certainI new and useful Im-`provements in Button-Feeding Mechanisnp` may with certainty andprecision be locked My invention relates to an improvement forBar-Button-Attaching Machines, which the following is a specification.

in button feeding mechanism forming a part of machines for attaching orsecuring buttons .to cloth or fabric, the object being to so constructand devise mechanism of this character which will with certainty andprecision' feed a. button provided with a cross bar into position suchthat it may'besecured to a fabric by means of a two prong rivetl orst-aple, and with this and other ends in View the invention consists incertain novel i features of construction and combinations of parts aswill insure the feeding, of the? bar-button in proper position to beattached to the clot-h, and which novel features will of the buttonbeing shown in its proper' po` sition in connection therewith. Fig. 4 isa sectional view of a part of the buttonfeeding mechanism andillustrating the position of several parts in case a but-ton follows tooclosely the preceding one. Fig. 5 is a View in front elevation of thebutton hopper and a portion of the button-feeding mechanism. Fig. 6is`asectional View of the same taken on the line 117- 17 of Fig. 5,'

is a sectional detached view' button-holding mechanism, ai

or secured to the button,vthe latter must necessarily be delivered tothe staple in acertain proper position, that is, with the bar of thebutton extending at right angles to a line drawn through the two prongsof the staple. In ot-her words, when the two parts, that is, the stapleand butt-on, are brought together, the two prongs of the staple mustlenter the openin s in the hub of the button, with the bar o the latterbetween said prongs. To insure this proper delivery of the button, Iconstruct the latter with two flattened sides as illustrated in Figs. 78 and-9, 30 representing the top or flange of t-he button, 31 the hub ofthe button, and 32 the two ia-ttened sides of'the hub, these flattenedsides extending from the top of the hub to within a short dist-ance ofthe lower end ofthe hub, thus forming the two shoulders 33, 33. Acrossthey lower end of the hub of the button is the bar 34, formed in onepiece therewith, or o`f a separat-epiece secured thereto, the hub beingprovided with the openings 35, 35, through which pass t-he prongs 36,36of the staple 37, illustrated in Fig. 12, this staple beingconstructed inany desired way, as such forms n o partof my presentinvention.

The buttons, in bulk, are placed within the hopper 38, constructed inthe ordinary way and providedwith the usual ratchet 39 and pawl 40, andconnected with'the operative mechanism of the machine, whereby thebuttons will be fed through the openings 41 formed'in the hopper in themanner as is usual -in this type of button setting machines. To theshaft 42 to which the ratchet 39 is secured, is also secured the gearwheel 43, meshing with the intermediate gear 44 mounted on a stud 45,one end of which is secured to the stationary plate 46. With thisintermediate gear 44 meshesy the gear 47 secured to and rotating withthe shaft 48, the latter mounted and rotating in the plate 46. On theopposite end of the shaft 48 is of the locating disk or wheel 49 asillustrated in Fig. 5, and below this wheel or locator, the groove orpassage way in the chute is restricted as illustrated at 51, the widthof the same permitting the buttons passing into the same only when theirflattened sides are presented to the beveled or inclined edges of thechute, as illustrated in Figs. and 9. As the hopper 38 is rotated lbythe operative mechanism of the machine,

the locator 49, through the intervention of the gears 43, 44 and 47,will also be rotated, and contacting with the hub of the button, asillustrated in Fig. 5, will rotate the same until the flattened sides ofthe hubl permit the same to drop into the restricted groove 51 of thechute. When in this position, the bar of the button will be crosswisewith relation to the chute, and in such position is delivered to thefastening means to be hereinafter described.

lThe wbutton chute having the." upper widened and lower restrictedpassage way, is shaped as illustrated in cross section in Figs.l 8 and9, that is, with a groove or recess 52, of` a sufficient size toaccommodate the upper plate, top or flange 30 of the button, whereby thelatter is prevented from falling out of the chute, and with the bevelededges 53, 53, over which fit the shoulders 33, 33 formed on the lowerend of the hub, such formation or construction of the chute insuringagainst the accidental disengagement of the button therefrom, andagainst the turning of the button in the lower portion of the chutewhile on its way to the fastening mechanism.

The button after passing down the chute is engaged by the escapement 55,constructed and arranged in the usual manner to permit one button at atime to pass beyond the same, after which rthe button isl fed by gravityaround the lower curved end 56 of the chute, and delivered to the buttonreceiver, this receiver being also constructed and'arranged in the usualmanner, and comprising the arm 57 pivoted at its rear end to the frame58 of the machine, as illustrated in Fig.`1. To the forward recessed endof the arm 57are pivoted the jaws 59 which, as illustrated in section inFig. 3,`

have their lower ends provided with ianges v60,011 which rests the topplate or flange of the button, the jaws being normally held in Atheirclosed positions by the spring 61, and

. at 69 to the frame 58 of the machine.

on to which flanges the button is delivered from the lower curved end 56of the button chute.

If for any reason the button should not be delivered from the end of thechute to the receiver, I provide what I term a tucker whereby to moveand properly place the button between and upon the flanges 60 of thejaws 59, this tueker comprising a plate 62 provided withY the elongatedcamslot 63. To the forward end of this plate 62 is pivoted the lower endof the bar 64, the latter near its upper end being pivoted at 65 to thelower curved end 56 of the button chute, the extreme upper end of thebar 64 being pivoted to the forward end of the connecting rod 66, therear end of said connecting rod being pivoted to the upper end of therod or plunger 67, and to which latter is also pivoted the forward endof the bar 68, the rear end of the latter being pivotled Tie rod orplunger 67 is tted within the barrel 70, the lower end of which ispivoted at 71 to the crank arm 72, the rear end of the latter beingpivoted at 73 to the frame of the machine, the forward end of the arm 72being connected to the operating portions of the machine by means of theconnecting rod 74, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. To assist in guidingthe tucker-plate 62 in its movement, I secure to the side of thebuttonchute the arm 75 provided with the pin 76 extending into thecam-slot 63.

If in operation the button has been fed down the button chute and onlypartially delivered into the button receiver, the forward end of the arm72 being raised by the operating parts of the machine, through theintervention of the connecting rod 74, will raise the barrel and theplunger 67, which in turn will raise the linked ends of the rods 66 and68. In raising the linked ends of the rods 66, 68, the upper end of therod 64 will be forced forwardly, and the lower end thereof forcedrearwardly, carrying with it the tucker-plate 62, the forward end ofwhich tucker-plate coming in contact with the button will force the sameinto proper position within the receiver, or in proper position upon theflanges 60 of the springactuat-ed jaws 59. As the barrel and rod 67continue to be raised, the linked ends of the rods 66, 68 will also beraised, causing the upper end of the pivot rod 64 to be drawn backwardlyand the lower end thereof forced forwardly, carrying with it thetucker-plate 62; in other words, after the tucker has forced the buttoninto proper posit-ion in the receiver, it immediately recedes therefrom.Upon the lowering of the connecting rod 74 by the operating parts of themachine,l the barrel 70 and plunger 67 will be carried downwardlythereby, the parts assuming their normal positions as illustrated inFig. l.

Should it happen that two buttons are'fed down the chute instead yofone, the one, 80, occupying its proper position within the buttonreceiver, and the other, 81, remaining in the lower end of the buttonchute, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the tucker-plate 62 will come inAcontact with `the latter button 81 and be permitted to remain in thatposition, as instead of the rods 66 and 68 being carried upwardly asbefore described by the barrel 7() and plunger 67, the barrel will'becarried upwardly, the plunger 67 remaining stationary,the barrel slidingon the plunger and compressing the spring 83 located with in the barreland with which the shoulder 84 on the plunger engages. In other words,the compression of the spring will permit of the barrel sliding on theplunger, thereby avoiding the raising of the connecting rods 6G, 68, andalso avoiding movement of the tucker-plate 62 which would necessarilyresult in the distortion of the buttons, or the breaking of the parts ofthe machine.

From the foregoing it will be understood that. I am thus enabled toinsure the button and staple being properly positioned, the button beingrevolved by the locator 49 until in proper position to be fed down thechute into the but-ton receiver, and in which position the bar of thebutton will be crosswise of the groove in the button chute; that shouldthe button fail to properly locate in the button receiver, the tucker7will so place or position it.

What I claim is:

l. In a but-ton attaching machine; a button hopper; a chute leading fromsaid hopper and along which buttons may pass, said chute having a groovethe upper portion of which is wider than the. lower; a rotary disk theperiphery of which projects into said.

groove and formsa portion of the side wall thereof; and means forrotating said disk.

2. In a button attaching machine, a rotary -button hopper; means forrotating said hopper; a chute leading from said hopper and' along whichbuttons may pass, said chute having a groove the upperl portion of whichis wider than the lower; a rotary disk the periphery 'of which projectsinto said groove and forms a portion of the side wall thereof; and meanswhereby said disk is rotated from said hopper.

3. vIn a button attaching machine, a button hopper; a chute leading fromsaid hopper and along which buttons may pass, said chute havingoverhanging sides which provide a groove the upper portion of which iswider than the lower; a rotary'disk the periphery of which pro-jectsinto said groove andl which disk occupies a portion of one of saidoverhanging sides; and means for rotat ing said disk.

4. In a button attaching machine, a hopper, a chute leadin from saidhopper to a button receiver; a' tucker connected with the lower end ofsaid chute and adapted to move a button therefrom and into said re'-ceiver, said tucker` comprising a reciproeating plate provided with acam slot to guide the same into operative engagement with the button; astationary pin engaging said vcam slot; and operating mechanism for saidtucker, the same including telescoping members and a spring interposedbetween said members and through which movement of one is communicatedtothe other.

Signed at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven, and State ofConnecticut, this 22 day of April, A. D. 1910.

FRANKLIN R.

Witnesses:

EDNA M. HEALEY, KATHARINE A. RUBEY.

